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Diaz and Malignaggi at their Wednesday press conference (Photo by Thomas Shea)

Pair of Former Champs Will Square off in Houston

Houston, Texas (Friday, July 10, 2009) – After a press conference this week made official an August 22nd fight between former IBF World Junior Welterweight champion Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi and IBF World Lightweight champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz, all eyes are now focused on this HBO main event pairing. Scheduled to take place in the Toyota Center in Houston, this superbout gained added momentum after the high energy press conference in the Lone Star State.

"I respect Juan Diaz as a fighter and I know this fight has the potential to be the Fight of the Year, but I know what I have to do on August 22nd and that's to dominate every round,” Malignaggi stated at the press conference. “This is the kind of big fight I've been waiting for and the fans are definitely going to see the old Paulie Malignaggi in action."

While Malignaggi may have came out on the wrong end of a November fight with Englishman Ricky Hatton, he remains focused on the next time he steps between the ropes.

“Yes, I had a tough loss to Ricky Hatton,” he said. “At my best, I’m a hard to fighter to beat, and at times I feel I’m inconsistent. All said and done, I was making excuses in the losses that I had, but now both of us have two losses and that means somebody is going to get three losses, and it isn’t going to be me.”

Malignaggi (26-2, 5 KOs) last stepped in the ring in April and took a unanimous decision over Chris Fernandez in the undercard of the Carl Froch-Jermain Taylor fight at the Foxwoods resort in Connecticut.